Australia hints at Iraq troop withdrawal in a year

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Australia's defence minister believes Canberra could withdraw some of the more than 1,300 troops it has stationed in and around Iraq within a year, according to an interview published Saturday.

Defence Minister Robert Hill told The Weekend Australian newspaper that a contingent of more than 400 troops recently sent to the southern town of Samawah in al-Muthanna province as security for Japanese military engineers working there on humanitarian projects.

"Muthanna ... is significantly growing its own security force in numbers and capability,'' Hill said.

"Unless the unexpected happens, they (the Iraqi security forces) should be able to look after their own security within 12 months.''

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http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/5/21/latest/20050521095521&sec=Latest

[ausiedownunderground]

1. There are no Iraqi security forces in Samawah!!!! Only......

Badr Brigade militia trained by Iran, armed by Iran and controlled by Iran through Al-Hakim and Sistani. Thats fine at the moment. However Al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia are moving in as well. They are much better trained having already fought Coalition forces and are getting equiped by the Sunni Guerrillas in tactics and weapons. This province is full of oil and the Japanese Engineers are there to get it out. But humanity needs oil!! The OZ forces are heavily outmanned and outgunned by about 10 militia to 1 OZ soldier. As the Mehdi Army influence increases in Samawah, the situation for OZ forces will get a lot more unstable as the Badr Brigades do not see eye to eye with the Mehdi Army. Robert Hill our Defence minister is just trying to paint a rosey picture for OZ domestic consumption, as anti-war sentiment is growing strongly here and unlike The "Bush Gang" our conservative Prime Minister is sending out signals that he wants to stand for election one more time, in order to break the record for most election wins by an individual ever. However, luckily in OZ, we have a proportional voting election system along with "NO" electronic voting, so the Conservatives have no "Dead" certainty in an election. If Samawah eventually breaks out into Shiite vs Shiite fighting and OZ forces get killed then the Conservatives are "Toast"! in October 2007!!! and OZ Prime Minister Howard's dream will evaporate with it!